Drivetrain slack

[desolate]

I don't know what is up with the slack in my drivetrain awd but I feel like there is more and more slack building up between the front and rear end. Everytime I shift gears I can feel the slack before it kicks in and the car moves forward. I drove other dsms and they seem like they don't have as much slack as mine. Is there a way I can find out what is causing the slack?

[Matt D.]

Get under the car and see if you can turn the driveshaft sections back and forth by hand. You'll probably want to put the entire car in the air on jackstands to do this. It will help you figure out where the slack is coming from.

[desolate]

Yeah I'll try that and see if I can find the culprit.

[acidrumz]

does it sound more like a thump? that could be your driveshaft. having slack at your rear end sounds pretty bad for the gears inside.

i have a chevy truck with a bad driveshaft/u-joints that took out the rear end. imagine that on a 4-bolt.

good luck.

[Shane@DBPerformance]

Could be the driveshaft carrier bearings or a bad motor mount.

[Alpine TSi]

My carrier bearings are shot and when I am in hard acceleration in 1st, 2nd, and lower 3rd I can hear and feel the driveshaft whacking against the bottom of the car, sounds real bad and scarry. Luckily it is getting fixed. I also do get a thunk out of it when I am cruising in fifth then jump on it, which is also related.

Definately get that looked at.

[A//// Guy]

It is probably just slack in the diff gearing, axles and driveline joints. Everything effects the problem. My car has the same problem. I just switched to a newer 4bolt but I havent tested how much slack I got rid of on my old 200k 3 bolt. All the tolerances get much larger with time. I know you can check all the specs and basically rebuild the rear diff but its not needed.

I wouldnt worry too much unless you are getting the symptoms that alpine has, in which you should fix the carrier bearings.